Improvement in steam-plows



S. K. BA SSE-TT.

` Steam-Plow.` No. 22,848. Patented Feb. 8, 1859.

I O J/M//K N. PEYERS. PHOrO-LJTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D. C.

i vUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

SAMLfK. BASSETT, OF GALESBURG, ILLINOIS.

lMPROVEMENTfIN STEAM-PLOWS.`

-Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 22,848, dated February8, 1859.

I all whom it may concern: q

Be it known that I, S. K. BAssETT, of Galesburg, in the county of Knoxand State of Illi- L nois, haveinvented a new and Improved Steam- Plow;and I do hereby declare that the follow;- ing is a full, clear, andexact description of the same, reference being had to the annexeddrawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure lis aside sectional view of my inveni tion, taken in the line y y, Fig.,3.Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same, taken in the linearw, Fig. 1.- Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of the same, a portion ofone sideof the machine being bisected horizontally in order to show clearly acertain portion of the working parts.

, Similar letters of reference indica-te corre' sponding parts in theseveral figures.

This invention consists in a peculiar manner of arranging the wheels ofthe truck of a traction steam engine, as hereinafter fully shown anddescribed, \vliereby"the truck may be readilyA guided and turned, andthe engine rendered available for drawin ga gan g of plows to turn overthe earth in the usual way.'

To enable those skilled in VVthe artv to fully understand and constructmyinvention, I will proceed to describe it. i

A represents a truck which is formed of arectangular frame, supported byfour wheels, B-two at each side. The wheels B are each placed on aseparate axle, C, and the inner journals, a, of the axles are fitted inbearings b, so arranged that they may turn as pivots and allow the axlesG tobe moved or adjusted curvilinearly from said bearings b as centers.The outer ends ofthe axles G have their bearings c fitted in curvedguides I), attached to the truck, and to the outer end of each axle O arod, E, is attached,'said rods being connected at their inner ends toracks F. The two racks at each side ot' the truck are fitted in properguides, d, and'between each pair of racks a pinion, e, is fitted andgears into the racks. The pinions e are placed on the lower ends ofver-A tical shafts G, which extend upward at each side ofthe machineabove a framing, H, on the truck.

On the upper part of each shaft G a conepulley, I, is attached, and thepulley I on one shaftis inverted or placed in a reverse position tothaton the other, and an endless chain, J, passes around the twopulleys. (See Fig. 2.) The pulleys I are provided with teeth f, whichare placed spirally on the pulleys, and between which teeth the chainJ`is tted, the links of the chaincatching against the teeth, whichpreventt-he slippingof the same. 0n the upper end of one of the shafts Ga bevel-wheel, K, is placed, and this wheel gears into a on a shaft,l1., on which'shat't a hand-wheel, L, is placed. (See Fig. 2.) 1

` AFrom the above description it will be readily seen that the truck Amay be turned within a small com pass and very expeditiously, for bothpairsot' wheels may be cramped simultaneously .inreverse positions byturning the wheel L,

the'cha-in J communicating motion from one shaft to the other, and thepinions e and racks F F communicating motion from the shafts G to theaxles C of the wheels. In order to effect perfectly this short andexpeditious turning of `the truck, the wheels at the side of the truckwhich has the larger curve to describe are quickly distended orseparated from each other bymeans of the cone-pulleys I, which, incnsequence of their variable diameter and the direction fin which theshafts are turned, will actuate the shafts G with unequal speed, thechain J passing from the larger to the smaller diameter of one pulley Iand from the smaller to thelargerdiameterof the other. The wheels,therefore, are quickly distended or separated at one side, while thoseat the opposite side of course approach each other with acorrespondingly slower speed.

M is a steam-boiler, which may be of any approved form. What isgenerally known as the cylindrical flue-boiler77 would, perhaps, be asdesirable as any other. This boiler is attached or suspended to thetruck A by trunnions z', the boiler being balanced thereon, so that itwill remain in a horizontal position, and not be affected by therisingand falling of the trunlLMe caused by the inequalities of the surface ofthe ground. This wil-1 be clearly understood by referring to Figs. l and2. v

N N are two steam-cylinders, placed on the truck A side by side in aninclined position.

O is a driving-shaft placed in the framing H, the connecting-rods P ofthe cylinders being pinion, g, Y

attached to cranksj on said shaftO. On each end of the shaft O acrank-pulley, Q, is placed, and these pulleys are connected by rods Rwith crank-pulleys S on the ends of a shaft, T, which is on the backpart of the framing E and parallel with the driving-shaft O. Thecylinders N are provided with the usual valves operated from the shaft Oby eccentrics lc. On each shaft O T two bevel-pinions, l l, are placedloosely,andhaveleversUconnectedwith them, so that they may be shoved onand otf of a feather, m, on the shafts, and connected with anddisconnected from said shalt, as may be desired. In each inner bearing,b, of the axles C the lower ends of vertical shafts V are stepped, asshown clearly in Fig. 2. To the upper` end of each shaft V a4bevel-wheel, n, is attached, the bevel-pinions l gearing intothe wheelsn, and bevel-wheels 0 are also attached to said shafts V, the wheels ogearing into beveled wheels or rims p at the inner sides of the wheelsB. (See Fig. 2.) The truck A is propelled from the driving-shaft 0 bymeans of the gearing just described; and in case the engine should bewanted to be used temporarily asa stationary engine thepinionsllarethrown out of gear with the wheels n on the shafts V,

the power being taken from a pulley on shaft O.

To the back part of thetruck A a horizontal frame, W, is attached byarms q, said arms being pivoted to horizontal bars r r, which projectfrom the truck. The arms q insureaparallel movement of the frame W andadmit of a rising-and-falling movement of the same, said frame beingadjusted at any desired height by a notched bar, s, the upper end ofwhich is fitted in a guide and stepfplate, t.

To the back part of the frame W a series of plows, X, are placed side byside. The/plows may be of usual construction, and may, by adjusting thebar s, be raised free from the ground and retained by the bar ls whenthe machine is being moved or drawn from place to place, or by adjustingthe frame W the plows, X may be made to penetrate the earth at a greateror less depth, in order to make the furrows of greater or less depth, asmay be desired.

To the front end of the truck A two curved bars, t t, are attached bypivots u u. To the back part of each bar a pendant, o, is attached atright angles. These pendants form standards for plows Y, which are inline with the front wheels, B, of the truck. In the front end of thebars tt wheels Z are placed, one in each. The two bars t t are connectedby a transverse rod, gv, and to the rod w a bar, ctx, is attached, thebar a* being notched at its upper end and fitted in a guide-plate, bx,attached to the fra-niing H. The plowsY Y level the earth in front ofthe wheels B and facilitate the movement of the machine. These plows mayalso, when necessary, be elevated free from the ground by adjusting thebar a".

The machine may be operated or driven by two personsan engineer to drivethe engine, and anattendant at the wheel L. The boiler is of coursesupplied with a necessary feedpump, operated in any proper' way.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

Having the wheels B ot' the truck A attaohed to separate axles U, withpivoted or swiveled inner bearings, b, the outer bearings ofthe axlesbeing itted in guides D, and the outer-#ends of the axles beingconnected by rods E with racks F, into which pinions c of shafts G gear,the shafts being connected by the endless chains J passing aroundcone-pulleys I, placed in reverse positions on the shafts, the wholebeing arranged to operate substantially as shown and described, tofacilitate the guiding and turning of the machine, as set forth.

SAML. K. BASSETT.

